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3 - The Physical Oceanography Processes in the Hudson River Estuary
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- By W. Rockwell Geyer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Robert Chant, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University
- Edited by Jeffrey S. Levinton, State University of New York, Stony Brook, John R. Waldman
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- Book:
- The Hudson River Estuary
- Published online:
- 06 January 2010
- Print publication:
- 09 January 2006, pp 24-38
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Summary
abstract The Hudson River has the attributes of a typical, partially mixed estuary – a moderate salinity gradient, significant vertical stratification, and a vigorous, two-layer circulation regime. Yet it also displays considerable variability, both in space and in time. In its northern reaches, the estuary becomes a tidal river, with no trace of oceanic salt but vigorous tidal currents. The salinity intrusion extends 100 kilometers (km) into the estuary during low discharge conditions, but it retreats to within 25 km of New York Harbor during the high river flows of the spring freshet. Fortnightly variations of tidal amplitude also result in pronounced variations in the estuarine regime, becoming well-mixed during strong spring tides and highly stratified during the weakest neaps. At the mouth of the Hudson is a complex network of tidal channels that link the estuarine regime of the Hudson to Long Island Sound, Newark Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. The influence of the Hudson extends into the Mid-Atlantic Bight in the form of a low-salinity plume, which forms a coastal current and flows south along the New Jersey shore during favorable wind-forcing conditions.
Introduction
The Hudson River is one of the major watercourses of the United States East Coast. It originates on the slopes of Mt. Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, extending nearly 600 km to New York City.
24 - PCBs in the Upper and Tidal Freshwater Hudson River Estuary: The Science behind the Dredging Controversy
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- By Joel E. Baker, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland, W. Frank Bohlen, University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences, Richard F. Bopp, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bruce Brownawell, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Tracy K. Collier, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Kevin J. Farley, Environmental Engineering Department, Manhattan College, W. Rockwell Geyer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Rob Nairn, Baird & Associates, Lisa Rosman, Coastal Protection and Restoration Division
- Edited by Jeffrey S. Levinton, State University of New York, Stony Brook, John R. Waldman
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- Book:
- The Hudson River Estuary
- Published online:
- 06 January 2010
- Print publication:
- 09 January 2006, pp 349-367
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Introduction
From the latter 1940s until 1977, the General Electric Corporation (GE) discharged an estimated 200,000 to 1.3 million pounds (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000a) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River from two electrical capacitor manufacturing plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York (Fig. 24.1). In 1977, under a settlement agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, GE stopped direct discharges of PCBs to the river, although leakage of PCBs from the factory sites to the river continues to this day. PCBs used at the GE plants were oily liquids containing dozens of distinct PCB compounds. Most of these components are persistent in the environment, attach strongly to soils and river sediments, and readily accumulate in fish, wildlife, and humans (National Research Council, 2001a). These properties, combined with the large discharges of PCBs from the GE plants over 50+ years, have led to elevated levels of PCBs in the water, sediments, and biota of the Upper Hudson River (defined here as the stretch upstream of the Troy lock and dam). Levels of PCBs in the Hudson River ecosystem are among the highest in the United States.
PCB contamination in the Hudson River is a management problem for the public because it has likely increased human health risks (primarily from consumption of fish), increased ecological risks to fish and fish-eating birds and mammals, and caused losses of river use and the resulting economic impacts (catch and release only fishery; advisories on fish consumption; restrictions on navigational dredging limiting access to the Champlain Canal; restrictions on and the increased costs of dredging; and commercial fishery closure).